Just Another Normal Day.

Follow Me On Another Boring Week.

Design Blitz Week 2

This could not have come in a more strange week. Last week I had gone out so much in comparison to this week because I had to go shopping with my parents for my sister’s birthday, which took place on Monday. Yet this week, no, it was spent with my sister being taken everywhere for scholarships and school functions, thus I spent most of my time at home. So, I had to get creative and snap a few pictures around the house during the week and hope they filled in, especially since lots of households have advertisements around them, seeing as things are always bought. So let’s see how well I did together, right?

Nah, today I actually went somewhere with my family. To the Virginia Historical Society, ironically acronymized as VHS. Now, they had a gorgeous Toy Exhibit, and I spent the day snapping pictures of both old toys and my sister and mom acting weird.

Above is the entirety of the Design Blitz Album, including each picture that will be talked about today. Below I will include at least four out of ten of the following concepts that these objects possess that makes them what they are.

The Ten Concepts

Color

typography

metaphors/symbols

minimalism & use of space

form/function/message

balance

rhythm

proportion

dominance

unity

The first photo is a picture of a juice box. My sister still brings them to school and I honestly (get the pun there?) enjoy drinking them too. It takes exactly like the picture displays: grapes in a bunch of water. What I love about this juice, though, is its typography.

Okay, so who really gets that excited about typography? It’s just a bunch of words, just put them in Comic Sans and don’t care about it. As I stated in a prior post, I love making Book Covers and playing around with fonts and different ways of making something look pretty. This label just shows so much creativity that it sparkles.

First, the Honest is written in a Serif font, which is the brand for all their drinks.

Nothing so special here, but it reminds you that, hey, we have other drinks not just for kids. It also uses form and function in its second word “Kids”. If you notice, it has the juice making up the “I”. This could be taken as a metaphor, especially with the line “Sweetened only with fruit juice” is right next to it. Let your kids drink it and only it and this is where your kids will get their sweetness from. They might not drink any other type of juice again! It’s very interesting advertisement, especially on such a little cardboard box that’s about the size of my hand.

In a complete contrast, we can look at the advertisement design for a toy known as Velvet, the cousin of Crissy. Apparently, my mom had the Crissy doll and enjoyed pulling out the hair so it could grow. A fun concept I don’t think a lot of dolls utilize that often.

Velvet‘s advertisement design differs from Honest Kids because of the typography and use of a metaphor. The typography, if not read up close, looks odd and blends in with Velvet’s hair, creating a strain in the eyes. Yet, by using the typography of a wavy lettering, it shows metaphorical long, flowing hair. It makes sure to remind students that, yes, this doll’s name is Velvet and make sure to tug on that hair if you want it to be wavy and long. It creates a rhythm that illustrates the doll’s main appeal: hair. Long, flowing, gorgeous, blond hair. Yes, the doll may not appear like in the advertisement, but it drew you in and kept you there long enough to want the doll. I can only imagine my mom wanting this doll. It’s a gorgeous example of how typography and the use of balance can distinguish an era.

Many other examples in the Design Blitz Album I created on Flickr utilize a variety of balance, typography, proportions, and unity. Each display present in the Toy Exhibit utilizes a balance and rhythm that makes it so you know what the entire display is about without having to look at the signs. It, overall, was a unique experience and felt amazing to look at each display with this mindset.

Except maybe the creepy cookie jar one.

I mean come on, look at them.

They were just on a table in the corner. Staring.

Staring.

Staring into my soul. I mean, what child would want cookies after having that look at them?

It looks like it wants to murder me. Steal my cookies, kids, I’ll get you in the eve. Cue creepy clown laughter and chainsaw noise.

I am not getting murdered by a cookie jar clown. It might make a really cool afterlife story, but not today. Not today.